QUASAR

"Sometimes, if you listen hard, the heavens are calling you, beckoning forth, to a dark star, where deep at its core, hidden the secrets of what we're here for."

Formed in the late 70's, Quasar is one of the original Neo-Prog bands. To date they have released only two studio albums, Fire In The Sky in 1982 and The Loreli in 1989. A brand new studio album is however in the making and has been in the pipeline for several years now (though no release date is set). One song on this 2011 live album, In The Grand Scheme Of Things, will presumably feature on that forthcoming album.

The sound of Quasar can favourably be compared to that of Landmarq under Tracy Hitchings. This is of course not surprising as the latter band has its roots in Quasar with several members of Quasar having went on to become members of Landmarq including Hitchings who did what is in my opinion her greatest vocal performance ever on The Loreli. In my opinion, Quasar is the better band and the present live album features most of their best songs. At first I was somewhat disappointed because of the absence of Tracy Hitchings distinctive voice, but once I got over that I started to appreciate the voice of the gorgeous Keren Gaiser in its own right. Then I saw the video clips on the bands ReverbNation page, and was charmed by Gaiser's stage presence and all-in performance. She is something of a young Prog goddess with all the right moves, and she also plays extra keyboards. When you see this you are going to want to hear and see more from this band.

Overall, these are strong performances of a strong set of songs from both of the band's two 80's albums with a focus on the excellent The Loreli material. Seeing Stars whose two parts originally appeared on Fire In The Sky and The Loreli respectively are here brought together into a longer suite. Some parts of the songs from Fire In The Sky (which had male lead vocals) are here sung by Robert Robinson who also is the main keyboard player. The alternating male and female vocals works to good effect. The band's founder Keith Turner plays bass, Greg Studley plays guitar, and Paul Johnson the drums.

The lyrical themes explored include space (Seeing Stars and Mission 14), nightmares (As You Fall Asleep...), myths & legends (The Loreli), and even politics (on the anti-war song Power In Your Hands). Tracy Hitchings' otherworldly vocal performance on The Loreli will never be matched, but these new live versions have other things going for them, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as an introduction to this very good and terribly overlooked band. I am very happy to see that they still exist and play music today and this is very promising for the future. I'm looking forward to the band's new studio album and also hope for a live concert DVD in the future. I would certainly buy it!

So after literally hundreds of gigs, and nearly as many line-up changes, Keith decided to call it a day. But then in 2006 he reformed the band with new members Paul Johnson (drums), Robert Robinson (keyboards/vocals), Keren Gaiser (vocals/keyboards) and Clancy Ferrill (guitars). So from the band not having a 'real' keyboard player they now have two, but the real change to these ears is that they also now have two singers. This means that on numbers such as 'Seeing Stars (I & II)' they can utilize the strength of both, and they happily take turns at the front of the stage, while Keren takes the main role. Of the three albums to date, this is easily the best. The band are relaxed and happy onstage, and know exactly what they want to achieve with symphonic neo-prog that is inviting and easy to listen to without ever falling into the trap of being easy listening.

This is reminiscent of late Seventies Genesis, yet somehow in a more symphonic style, with stunning vocals throughout. Indeed, the only real question that has to be asked is why has this band never gained the acclaim they so richly deserve? Now based in the States, surely there are enough progheads over there to take this band to heart and provide the impetus for them to get out there, record a new studio album, and show everyone exactly what they are made of. Songs like 'As You Fall Asleep' are way more powerful on this album than on the studio version, imbued with new life and strength.

Based on what I can hear, Quasar are a much stronger band now than they were in the Eighties and deserve to be a name known by far more than just a few. For more details then visit their site at quasar.netne.net/ or their Reverb Nation store at www.reverbnation.com/store/store/artist_672607

After the release of their debut album in 1985 the band changed approach bringing in female singer Susan Robinson (Solstice) on lead vocals and hitting the road. They definitely suffered with line-up changes, but in 1985 provided a track for the EMI compilation 'Fire In Harmony'. Dave Wagstaffe had joined on drums by then, and not long afterwards there was yet another major change with Tracy Hitchings joining on vocals, Steve Leigh on keyboards and Uwe D'Rose on guitar (Keith Turner was of course still there at the helm, providing bass). So, it wasn't until 1989 that the band started on this their second album, but during recording both Steve and Uwe left so Toshi Tsuchiya came in on guitar and midi guitar.

I still remember the first time I played this album, something over 20 years ago, as I fell in love with it immediately. It was the first time I had come across Tracy, and this felt like a perfect combination of soaring prog with vocals to match. Unlike the debut, where Keith had provided all of the material, this is much more of a band album although only the title song was co-written by two current members of the band. The keyboards do sound a little uncomplicated, but given that they were being played on a midi as opposed to 'proper' keyboards that probably isn't surprising. The star of the show is Tracy, and the music is designed to show her off in the best light. Here she is full of confidence and the production is spot on, allowing her to be a little 'dry' in places to really show off her quality as opposed to coating everything in reverb.

Although some of the keyboard sounds do appear little dated, since it is the best part of 25 years since it was released that really is a little picky as here is an album that neo-prog fans should investigate. Not long after the album was released and this line-up, like so many others, had disappeared. Dave joined forces with Uwe and Steve to form Landmarq with Steve Gee (Artemis), and Tracy departed to work with Clive Nolan on his Strangers On A Train projects and others, before finally joining Landmarq herself. So Quasar were never really able to maximize the potential of a wonderful piece of work, and as I write this (at the beginning of 2013) they have yet to release another studio album. That is nothing short of criminal as this is a great album and something that belongs in all prog lovers' collections. As with the debut, if you go to the band's website you can play all of the songs, so why not go and discover some prog history? quasar.netne.net/

After a gap that is probably the best part of 20 years, Keith Turner and I recently got back in touch again. To celebrate he sent me Quasar's two studio albums, and a live set capturing the band in 2011. So, starting with the very first, I have been playing 'Fire In The Sky' which came out in 1981 so it is now more than 30 years old! The prog scene in the UK really needs to be put into context here, as basically it didn't exist at the time. With the advent of punk, 'prog' was seen as a bad thing by the music press who then decided that it didn't exist. Of course that didn't stop bands from forming and playing, it just meant that it was virtually impossible to get any publicity.

Quasar were formed in 1979 by Keith Turner and Mike Kenwright, but soon the line-up changed quite dramatically so by the time of the release of their debut album only two years later just Keith was left. Cyrus Khajavi came in on guitar and keyboards, Paul Vigrass was vocalist, Peter Ware on keyboards, Peter Shade on vibes and keyboards, Steen Doosing on drums while Keith Turner handled the bass, Moog Taurus and twelve string guitar and provided all the songs.

One wonders what would have happened if these guys had stayed together long enough to properly tour this album as even now it is a joy to listen to. Yes, it does sound dated, but not as much as one might imagine. If I were to take one single album as a starting point then it would probably be 'And Then There Were Three', particularly with some of the keyboard sounds, but in many ways this is an important piece of work as it is one of a small number that was coming out of the underground in those days that would influence those yet to come. Twelfth Night had released a few tapes, and Pallas came out with 'Arrive Alive' in 1981 but IQ, Pendragon, Marillion et al had yet to release an album.

One of the real joys of 'Fire In The Sky' is the confidence of singer Paul Vigrass who really shines throughout. The production is a little thin in places but I found that it actually works really well and adds to the 'other worldy' aspect of the album as a whole. Coming to this album 'fresh', as I hadn't previously heard it, I found it quite surprising as I hadn't realized that the band had a male lead singer in the early days. But the dynamics in the band work incredibly well and given that this was an independent release more than 30 years ago is something that should be recognized. If you go to the band's website you can play all of the songs, so why not go and discover some prog history? quasar.netne.net/

Quasar's Fire In the Sky presents a set of the songs that had the potential to be a really nice concept album based around spacey UFO themes. Unfortunately, it's sabotaged by two things; the first is the production, and the second is the weak patches in the compositions.

As far as the production goes, there's no two ways about it: it stinks, and the vocals in particular are very badly affected. The album has a fuzzy, murky sound to it with only a few keyboard-led sections having any clarity to them whatsoever. Consequently, the finer points of the group's performance are obscured, which is a shame from what I can hear they seem like a pretty tight band. When it comes to the compositions, though, there are points where a particular lyrical or musical theme is leaned on a little too heavily - not horribly so, but enough to make me think the songs could have been improved with a bit of polishing.

On balance, I'm inclined to say Quasar's great tragedy was that they went into the studio a little too early; had they spent just a little bit longer smoothing out the rough edges on their songs, and had they held out until they had enough momentum behind them to get a somewhat better production quality on the album, it's quite likely they'll have been able to knock this album up a rank or two. (Granted, I don't know how viable that was given the band's circumstances at the time, but given that IQ, Twelfth Night, and Pendragon were all able to record albums with decent production values on small independent or self-managed labels at around this time I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation.) As it is, they ended up with a product which, despite showing promise, sounds more like a hastily-assembled demo tape than a fully realised album.

3.5 for sure.

Quasar is one of the most unnoticed bands from neo prog movements from early '80's from british scene. They were always in the shadow of othe rnamed like Pendragon, Marillion, Iq , etc. They release so far two album, the second one from 1989 named Loreli is to me they most intristing one from the two. Featuring the excellent female vocalist Tracy Hitchings the album sounds as neo as can be an album from this genre, melodic , lush and with some memorable moments. While the album is not very well recived here, I can trace some excellent moments in this album, like opening track The Loreli or Logic?, great pieces with a lot to offer, like all of them aswell. Good keybords in the mix here, maybe little dull at times in comparation with other arrangements from neo from that period but for sure has it's grace and beauty of their own. Only 5 pieces here and lenghty like almost an ep from our days, Loreli is a winner to my ears, a good realease who don't desearve less then 3 stars IMO. A forgotten little album from neo prog zone that needs maybe in prog circles a wider recognition. Great cover arts front/back.

While most progheads are aware of the New Wave of British Progressive Rock through bands like Marillion,Pallas,IQ and Pendragon,there were some ''smaller'' bands earlier to set the seeds of the movement's explosion like Chemical Alice,Twelfth Night,Tamarisk and the presented QUASAR.The band was founded in 1979 in London by bassist/guitarist Keith Turner and singer Mike Kenwright and the first line-up included also drummer Steve Clarke, guitarist John Clark and keyboardist Geoff Banks.Very soon Turner found himself alone on board and a fresh line-up was establuished featuring Cyrus Khajavi on guitars,Steen Doosing on drums, Peter Shade on keys and Paul Vigrass on vocals.This personel recorded the band's debut ''Fire in the sky'' in 1981,released on Q Records and re-issued on CD in 1989 with the presented cover ((the original vinyl release had a different one).

STYLE: ''Fire in the sky'' is one of the best examples of the emerging British Neo Prog sound,balancing dangerously between the raw and the romantic.Highly symphonic and often dramatic,the album is based on the refined melodies,the great breaks and the majestic synths of Peter Shade.Notice that ''Fire in the sky'' contains two grand suites clocking at 13 and 17 minutes respectively.''Mission 14'' is a grandiose 13-min. epic featuring all of the above elements and one of the best compositions to be heard in the whole Neo Prog scene.Extremely lyrical,the track lies somewhere between synth-led complex prog and smooth Symphonic Rock with Vigrass delivering an excellent performance,supported by the pounding rhythm section and the sharp synths,often flirting with electronic sounds in a majestic soundscape.A must to listen!On the 17-min. ''UFO'' the band reaches a more accesible face,though this track is also very intricate and challenging.Again the track is filled with synth effects and keyboard solos,but this time in a smoother way.Lots of soft symphonic textures with intense lyrical moments,atmospheric keys and even some acoustic passages.Vigrass sounds even better that on the first track.Another example of the band's talent and a big slap against the commercial music of the days.

SOUNDS/INFLUENCES: Mid-70's GENESIS seems to be the band's main influence along withe classicism of THE ENID and the electronic soundscapes of VANGELIS,but anyone who have heard even touches of early PALLAS knows what to expect.

PLUS: A trully gifted vocalist who knows when to be aggressive and when to sing calmly. Fantastic keyboard work,among the best to be heard from the scene,with influences from classical,progressive and electronic music.A very tight and raw rhythm section.An extremely talented band,a fact taped in the amazingly well-crafted and arranged long compositions.One of the rare efforts not to be spoiled by the mediocrity of the production.

MINUS: Not much of guitar sounds around.

WILL APPEAL TO:...Fans of the early neo sound:this is a masterpiece for you!An excellent addition also for fans of Classic Symphonic Prog and even lovers of Electronic Music.

CONCLUSION: Seems that the early-80's ''dead'' prog scene has yet much to offer.QUASAR and their debut belong definitely among those lost pearls of underground Progressive Rock music,which deserve a better chance.Extremely highly recommended,this effort belongs to the monumental archives of early 80's prog...5 stars.

"She should have gone to her grave a thousand years ago, but the haunts the waves and lost and lonely souls"

Some seven years after their rather underwhelming debut, Quasar returned with the present album which is their latest to date (but a new album is apparently in the making as I write these words!). Quasar was plagued by line-up changes throughout their career and the only member that remains from the previous album is band leader Keith Turner. The addition of Tracy Hitchings on lead vocals was something of a stroke of genius as her presence injects the music with an energy and passion that puts it head and shoulders over the band's early effort. Hitchings would later go on to work with Clive Nolan and Karl Groom and then with Landmarq, but the present album was (as far as I know) her first venture into Prog territory. The vocal performance of Tracy here is simply astonishing; she gives us all she's got. But not only the vocals stand out here, the band is up for it and the compositions are very strong.

Loreli consists of five tracks two of which are over ten minutes in length. The gorgeous opening title track is based on the folkloric tale or Loreli. There are many versions of the story and Quasar give us theirs. Here the name 'Loreli' seems to refer to a ghost ship of some kind (as depicted on the lovely sleeve painting) rather than to a character who enchants sailors who passes by. The song begins with subtle sea-noises and Tracy almost whispers the opening words over discrete keyboards and guitar. Her vocal performance is so passionate as it sounds as if she had just seen the Loreli herself and is running home in awe, eager to tell us all about it! She is a technically skilled vocalist for sure, but it is not this that primarily appeals to me but rather her ability to sing as if the really believed every single word she is singing.

The title track together with the anti-war song Power In Your Hands that closes the album are probably the least progressive songs here. Seeing Stars (Part 2) (part 1 was on the debut, but I don't see much musical connection between the two) allows for more instrumental work. The line-up is the traditional one with drums, bass, electric guitars, keyboards and vocals. The sound is rather keyboard-heavy throughout and the keyboard sounds are lush and modern, but the bass and drums are restless and never timid. The drum sound is a bit thin like it often is in music from the 80's, but they are well played and I don't mind this at all on this occasion; indeed, it fits the music fine! The production of the album is not perfect, but for me the great melodies and the strong passion for music are more important than sonic perfection. There are perhaps some flaws in the recording and production stages, but the compositions and performances are impeccable. Make sure you listen to this one on a decent sound system, it does not sound good out of my laptop speakers (not much does, but this sounds worse!). But out of my best speakers and also my best headphones, it sounds very good!

There is an energy and power in this music like that in the best of Metal music, but the sound is not Metal at all. I would not call this typical Neo-Prog as it does not sound like any of the biggest names in the subgenre. As You Fall Asleep features again a very strong vocal by Tracy, she sings as if she was positively possessed! This ten minute track is one of the highlights for me. I'm reminded of one of my favourite bands here in Legend, but Quasar is much less dark and much less hard-edged than that band. This is followed by Logic? which is the album's second ten minute song.

This album is admittedly an acquired taste with its bombastic 80's sound and I can understand those who don't like it. It is a bit like Pomp-Rock where the catchy choruses have been replaced with great instrumental sections and the typical lyrics about love are replaced by folklore, fantasy, dreams, war and logic!? This is, I guess, "catchy", or accessible, in its own way, but the focus is on verses and instrumental movements and not on choruses. This is hardly ground-breaking nor breathtakingly original music and neither is it overly complex or technically extravagant, but I find much charm in this music and the arrangements are appropriately elaborate and not conventional. It gripped me on the first listen, but it remains consistently enjoyable after many repeated listens.

Tracy Hitchings certainly has her very own vocal identity and an expressive and distinctive voice and she propels the band forward here. Quasar was thus a predecessor to more recent female-fronted Neo-Prog bands. Some of the members would go on to form Landmarq, and the rest is history.

Four stars might seem like a generous rating, but I like this so much that I could have given five if this had been better recorded and produced! Please don't think that I give this a high rating to compensate for others' lower ratings, I never do that. This album deserves my praise it on its own merits.

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Quasar was formed in the late 70's and even if they to date only have two studio albums in their discography, they have apparently endured as many line-up changes as some of the most prolific and famous Prog bands! Indeed, band leader Keith Turner is the only member who is present on both of their albums. Generously, both of the band's albums are now freely available for streaming on the band's official website, the present one with bonus tracks and all.

Fire In The Sky was Quasar's debut album and in a way this can perhaps be regarded as Proto-Neo-Prog. However, there is little indicating the release date of 1982. This sounds more like second-division classic Prog; this could have come out of the mid 70's, just as well. The vocals do, however, sound like they were recorded in the 60's! Overall, the album is not very well recorded and the vocals are its weakest link. The voice of singer Paul Vigrass is rather anonymous and his vocals lack power. The mood is rather mellow and the tempo is often slow with only occasional and brief instrumental outbursts. There is a serious lack of punch in the music. It reminds slightly of the Irish Symphonic Prog band Fruupp, particularly their later efforts, with a slightly Jazz-tinged feel to the vocals.

The album which has a running time of only 35 minutes consists of only four tracks, the shortest of which runs for only 40 seconds and the longest for 18 minutes. The latter is a four-part suite called U.F.O. and the title of the album is taken from the title of one this epic's sections. The album begins with a short keyboard-driven instrumental, a bit like how Camel started their Moonmadness album. This less than a minute long keyboard driven instrumental is actually the album's highlight for me! It has just the kind of energy and drive that the rest of the album would benefit from. This then leads into Seeing Stars (Part 1) which settles into a placid, dreamy pace. (Part 2 of Seeing Stars would later appear on the band's second album, but there is little or nothing to connect the two musically).

Mission 14 starts out well and adopts a more symphonic sound with a stronger presence of keyboards. This 13 minute plus composition is the strongest of the album's vocal tracks, but despite some good moments it never seems to really get off the ground. The first part of U.F.O. again has a kind of 60's Pop-vibe to it, not what you would expect from something dubbed Neo-Progressive! The problem here again is that this long composition never really gets off the ground, despite a few decent moments, particularly the instrumental parts.

Overall, this immature debut is by no means awful but instead mildly enjoyable even if quite unremarkable and in the end underwhelming. Maybe this would be better with better vocals and production, but I doubt it. This can only be recommended for those with a special interest in the early development of the Neo-Progressive movement. Quasar would return some seven years later with an altogether different and much better album.

Between 2.5 and 3 stars for this Neo-Prog album with a strong 80's feel.

This is the 2nd release by this british band and I never heard the debut so I can not compare between them. Only founding member Keith Turner remained from the debut line- up, and two points stand out from this new line-up: First the distinctive voice of Tracy Hitchings, who would later on work with Landmarq and Clive Nolan among others. There's no question that Tracy had a beautiful and powerful voice, but her singing style is a bit too rocker and dramatic for this music, which is otherwise very gentle and smooth. Secondly, if I understand well the credits, there was no keyboardist and all the keyboard sounds were played by Toshi Tsuchiya on a midi guitar, so considering that the album sounds very keyboard-driven one must reckon that he did an amazing job.

While being totally Neo-Prog, they do not sound as an early Marillion clone, but rather as a soft version of Pallas with more 80's feel, unlike other bands who looked for a more retro sound Quasar fully embraced the 80's new sounds such as the electronic drums and the mentioned midi guitar with those typical 80's thin synth patches. This has two consequences, firstly the sound is very thin and plastic, very dated when we listen to it in 2010, and secondly it has the effect that the music sounds more pop than it really is, making every 4/4 segment sound as if it was some new-wave band playing a proggier than usual song.

Despite these weaknesses the compositions are actually quite decent and the quality level is consistent throughout the full album so it's difficult to single out best or worst tracks. Maybe I would point "Logic?" as the worst because in the 2nd half it features an excessively poppy chorus. I have the USA edition which has as bonus tracks 2 totally unnecessary shorter edit versions of the title track and of "Logic?".

Possibly interesting for Neo fans who want to explore the lesser known bands of the genre, but surely dispensable for the vast majority of other proggers.